Heavy Duty Grinder/Vise Pedestal Build

dr_clyde · Dec 31, 2014

Hey guys,

Thought you might be interested in my new vise/grinder pedestal that I built.

I was wanting to use a vise over near my large work bay, away from the fabricating and machining area. I mostly work on my truck or friends vehicles, or things that are too awkward to maneuver to the back of the shop.

My welding table is constructed with modular tooling in mind, so most of my grinders, benders, and vises already have a 2" hitch style receiver base. I decided to make a universal base that will accept these tools anywhere in the shop.

I started with some materials I scrounged from paying jobs and what I could snag from my machinist buddy's scrap bin. I ended up with a piece of 6" square tube, 3/8" wall and a drop from his waterjet that was 1-1/8" thick and 23" in diameter. Total weight of the plate is a fuzz over 132 pounds and the tube about 76 pounds for a total of about 208 pounds. Still lighter than I was hoping, but I may end up bolting it to the floor so I can use it for my tubing bender.

My W.F. Wells horizontal bandsaw made short work of the tube.

Next I took the rough edge from the waterjet off with a grinder and a file.

My Starrett 24" combo blade on the centering head let me quickly find center.

Using a center punch, I marked the center and then drew a circle with a welder's pencil in a compass that was equal to the outer corners of the square tube.

This let me quickly lay out the tube nice and centered. Check it quick with a tape measure then tack it up.

Now, I should have known better, but I went ahead and tacked it with 6010. This proved a mistake when the tacks cracked after the first weld on the opposite side. Note to self, next time, use a stronger rod for tacks.

I slung a chain around the top and attached the other end to my table with an eye bolt. A chain binder pulled it back into square so I could continue welding.

Well, the welding warped the plate a tad. Not much, but enough to make it wobble a little on the floor. Not good.

A little time with the torch and she was good to go. Flame straightening is one of my favorite tricks in the welding shop.

I drilled and tapped a 6"x6" plate and then welded it to the top of the tube, then made the mating receiver.

Here is the finished stand, I probably will paint it when the weather is a little warmer.

drivesitfar · Dec 31, 2014

DR: nice looking stand. i know you probably are already planning on doing this, but can you show me (us) how you made the hitch type mounts for the vise and the grinder and the specs on the materials used?

if you want to post up your finished version over on the vise and grinder stand thread in this part of the forum that would be great? i like this one you made and i'm sure others will too.

how long did you re heat up the base to make it level and how did you know when it was flat again?

Happy New Year

Amitygravel · Dec 31, 2014

What a nice stand !
Great photos and write up.

Could you explain the flame straightening process in detail ?

Fyrme · Dec 31, 2014

Great looking stand, I'm sure the weight of it all will come in handy. Having a very heavy vise pedestal my self, and while it does 90% of the jobs I need it to do, It can still sometimes get a little tippy. I'd like to make three suggestions. 1. A vertical receiver tube down the center of the stand, would give the vise less pulling leverage on the stand, making it more stable. 2. Though it may be too late, you mentioned it was a little lighter than you wanted. You could have, or still could fill the bottom 1/3rd or more of the tube with concrete. And 3. Add some offset casters to the base for when you want to move it. It sure beats trying to bottle roll it. Otherwise, I love it, and would love to have that piece of plate.

Here is one I built for reference to the casters.

dr_clyde · Jan 1, 2015

Amitygravel said:
What a nice stand !
Great photos and write up.

Could you explain the flame straightening process in detail ?

Flame straightening is not really complicated, just takes a little planning to get it right. Tom Lipton does the best explanation in his books, if you want to get a more detailed look.

Basically, you are using precisely applied heat to counter act the warp caused by the heat of welding. But the nickel explanation is this.

When steel is heated, it expands. The surrounding cool metal doesn't allow the hot metal to expand evenly, so it forms an upset on the surface of the plate. When the steel cools, the upset acts like a mini turnbuckle and pulls the surrounding metal inward, causing warp. In flame straightening, we are using an oxy-acetylene torch to cause an upset opposite of the weld to pull it back to straight. It sometimes takes 2 or 3 applications to get it right. It just depends on the material size, and the size of the weld.

In my stand, I just traced the weld on the bottom of the plate with the torch. I went slow enough to get a bright orange circle about 1/4" in diameter or so.

I'll do a thread on flame straightening, because there seems to be some interest in it.

dr_clyde · Jan 1, 2015

Fyrme said:
Great looking stand, I'm sure the weight of it all will come in handy. Having a very heavy vise pedestal my self, and while it does 90% of the jobs I need it to do, It can still sometimes get a little tippy. I'd like to make three suggestions. 1. A vertical receiver tube down the center of the stand, would give the vise less pulling leverage on the stand, making it more stable. 2. Though it may be too late, you mentioned it was a little lighter than you wanted. You could have, or still could fill the bottom 1/3rd or more of the tube with concrete. And 3. Add some offset casters to the base for when you want to move it. It sure beats trying to bottle roll it. Otherwise, I love it, and would love to have that piece of plate.

Here is one I built for reference to the casters.

Casters might be in the future, it depends. For now, I just throw a choker sling around it and move it with the forklift.

Strouty · Jan 1, 2015

Nice stand and thanks for the explanation of the flame straightening. It makes sense, but I am sure that it takes some practice to get it right.

dr_clyde · Jan 1, 2015

drivesitfar said:
DR: nice looking stand. i know you probably are already planning on doing this, but can you show me (us) how you made the hitch type mounts for the vise and the grinder and the specs on the materials used?

if you want to post up your finished version over on the vise and grinder stand thread in this part of the forum that would be great? i like this one you made and i'm sure others will too.

how long did you re heat up the base to make it level and how did you know when it was flat again?

Happy New Year

So, the hitch mounts are different for each tool, but I try to keep them as consistent as I can. I use 2" square tube with a 3/16" wall for the main beams and the bases I usually cut out of 1/4" plate. Here are some photos of when I built the base for my Wilton last winter.

I drew the base in AutoCAD. I will usually just add these drawings to larger orders from the laser shop so I don't need to pay a setup fee. The little brackets on the right are for something else.

All squared up and welded to the tube.

Attached to the table.

Amitygravel · Jan 1, 2015

Great stuff and beautiful work dr !
Thanks for the flame straightening explanation.

Look forward to seeing more of your work.

Heavymetalmechanic · Jan 1, 2015

How are you finding the weight on the base? Do you think you will need to add more to offset the weight of the attachment?

I like the way that turned out!

littletoes · Jan 1, 2015

We call it "pulling" in the trade, but we usually blame the welder for not paying attention when he welded-out!

All kidding aside, I pulled a 10" sch 40 90* a bunch once to get the gap!

Nice Looking Work Dr. Clyde!

Strouty · Jan 1, 2015

Dr clyde, what is the smaller grinding wheel on the baldor? Is it a diamond wheel or is it just the picture making it look funny?

dr_clyde · Jan 1, 2015

Strouty said:
Dr clyde, what is the smaller grinding wheel on the baldor? Is it a diamond wheel or is it just the picture making it look funny?

It is indeed smaller. It's a CBN wheel for grinding carbide tools. I use it to sharpen lathe tools and tungsten electrodes. The wheel on the left is a scotchbrite deburring wheel.

dr_clyde · Jan 1, 2015

Heavymetalmechanic said:
How are you finding the weight on the base? Do you think you will need to add more to offset the weight of the attachment?

I like the way that turned out!

Thanks. I haven't used it much yet for the vise. It holds the small Baldor mostly. And it seems to be working fine so far.

zkling · Jan 1, 2015

Great job

wish I had your floor space.

Heavymetalmechanic said:
How are you finding the weight on the base? Do you think you will need to add more to offset the weight of the attachment?

I like the way that turned out!

Dimensions and density. You can also calculate the balance point and how much extra it will take to tip it over.

Engine · Jan 2, 2015

Dr clyde, fine looking pedestal you have there!

I'm someone else who's looking to learn more about flame straightening if you decide to make a thread about it. Warpage/distortion seems to always be a problem every time I try to fab up something. I'm just a learner, so I still need to understand the basics of it.

Fyrme · Jan 2, 2015

Engine said:
Dr clyde, fine looking pedestal you have there!

I'm someone else who's looking to learn more about flame straightening if you decide to make a thread about it. Warpage/distortion seems to always be a problem every time I try to fab up something. I'm just a learner, so I still need to understand the basics of it.

x3 Doc. You take good pics and have good tutorial writing skills. I'd like to read a detailed write up on straightening as well. I would imagine that if you posted it in the "general Garage" section, you'd find there are probably hundreds on this site that would find it useful. Or I guess I could go to Google or Youtube and waste 40 videos of people trying to get there 5 minutes of fame explaining it to me. :lol:

Richard D · Jan 3, 2015

Fyrme said:
I'd like to read a detailed write up on straightening as well.

Me too.

zkling · Jan 3, 2015

Guys, read this, it is the best how to and why on the subject.
Warning opens a PDF.
http://isddc.dot.gov/OLPFiles/FHWA/009569.pdf

56rpm · Jan 3, 2015

Top shelf fab and write up! Thanks for sharing your work.

Bob

930dreamer · Jan 3, 2015

Very nice fab work. :thumbup:

beakie · Jan 4, 2015

not sure what you do for storage of the unused tools for the stand.
but you could add counter weight by mounting whatever is not being used on the back side.
receiver tune @ a 45*, to slip in/out with ease, weight down low and could get a 1-3 tools if you used the bare sides.

beakie · Jan 4, 2015

dreaded double post

dr_clyde · Jan 4, 2015

beakie said:
not sure what you do for storage of the unused tools for the stand.
but you could add counter weight by mounting whatever is not being used on the back side.
receiver tune @ a 45*, to slip in/out with ease, weight down low and could get a 1-3 tools if you used the bare sides.

Unused tooling lives somewheres else in the shop. I had homes for everything already. This stand just lets me use them anywhere I want in the shop.

So far it hasn't needed any counterweight, but If I do, I'll probably do something similar to what you described but with lead blocks or something. Thanks for your input. :thumbup:

beakie · Jan 4, 2015

dr_clyde said:
Unused tooling lives somewheres else in the shop. I had homes for everything already. This stand just lets me use them anywhere I want in the shop.

So far it hasn't needed any counterweight, but If I do, I'll probably do something similar to what you described but with lead blocks or something. Thanks for your input.

dang, I was just trying to persuade you so it would look like I had some small input on a clean piece of work like this.

if/when I get back into metal working this is one of the many things I'd like to put together... won't be quite as clean, but funtional atleast.

North Run Grader · Jan 13, 2015

If you need to add more weight, you can always fill it with sand. Drill and tap a hole for the largest recessed set screw you have into the top or bottom, whichever is easiest to access. Using a kitchen funnel I imagine you can likely get a bag or 2 sand into the main upright. I've used this idea for some old Oxy tank dishing forms, more to deaden the gong effect but added a fair bit of weight to already heavy forms. Then in the future if you ever decide that its too heavy, remove the screw and let it pour out.

bagged89s10 · Jun 13, 2015

Nice work on that stand. :thumbup:

sanddan · Jun 14, 2015

Great attention to detail, thanks for sharing.

Heavy Duty Grinder/Vise Pedestal Build

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Super Moderator

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member